Chapter Summaries

Ye Yuan helped his father secure a storefront on Mingwu Street and began setting up the family’s antiques shop, Guiying Antiques Shop. He arranged for an appraisal expert through neighboring shopkeepers and stocked the store with carved ornaments and treasures from the sea.

• Ye Yuan told Yu Hongbo that he could not join the crew at sea, so Big White and Little Shark led fishing operations nearby while Tiger stayed around Fishing Bay Island; Ye Yuan also learned that Little Gold had been missing for many days.
• Ye Yuan traveled to Blue Island, where Father Ye signed the storefront contract with Zhao Yunzhi, making the shop property the Ye family’s.
• Zhao Yunzhi hosted a lunch for Father Ye, Ye Yuan, Wang Xuehong, Boss Li, and Boss Zhang, and Father Ye hired two employees to help run the shop.
• Ye Yuan asked Wang Xuehong, Boss Li, and Boss Zhang to help find an appraisal expert, and Boss Li agreed to speak with the expert serving the neighboring shops.
• Ye Yuan arranged for Ding Er’s carved ornaments and his salvaged silver sycees, Yuan Datou coins, and porcelain fragments to be moved into Guiying Antiques Shop, whose name and calligraphy pleased his parents.

Guiying Antiques Shop opened amid a crowd of well-connected guests and drew attention for its impressive collection. After a busy first day, Father Ye closed the shop and asked Ye Yuan to guess how much they had sold.

• Liu Caifeng sent Ye Yuan a calligraphy inscription for Guiying Antiques Shop, making the shop modestly famous before it opened.
• Father Ye welcomed the many guests who came to the shop’s opening, while nearby owners noted the congratulatory baskets from influential people.
• Xu Hang bought a Petrified Wood Guan Gong, and Zhao Chuan questioned why the shop displayed a Gundam.
• Ye Yuan gave male guests Sea Willow cigarette holders and female guests Sea Willow hairpins as return gifts.
• Boss Li examined the shop’s collection, found no imitations, and asked Ye Yuan about its carvers.
• At 5:00 p.m., Father Ye closed Guiying Antiques Shop and asked Ye Yuan to guess the day’s sales.

After Ye Yuan’s family celebrated a successful first day at the antique shop, he returned to Fishing Bay Island and found the crew excited about catching hundreds of Clownfish. The crew’s catch was worth far less than Ma Hua expected, and Yu Hongbo urged Ye Yuan to take them back to the open sea once the Yushui Hao was repaired.

• Mother Ye calculated that the antique shop had sold 674,720 yuan worth of goods, and Ye Yuan gave each employee a 500-yuan opening bonus.
• Ye Yuan reassured Father Ye that the shop would not stay as crowded as it had been on opening day, then the family shared dinner with Ye Hui’s family.
• Back on Fishing Bay Island, Ma Hua dragged Ye Yuan to the dock to see hundreds of Clownfish the crew had caught aboard the Water Controller.
• Ye Yuan told Ma Hua and Wang Husheng that the Clownfish were worth only about fifteen to thirty yuan each in Blue Island.
• Yu Hongbo told Ye Yuan that the crew’s catches were worse without him and the Yushui Hao, which was still being repaired.

Ye Yuan went to an agricultural equipment market to choose machinery that would help his robots handle farm work while some were assigned to his father’s antique shop. He approved Zhang Kai’s equipment proposals, including a Plant Protection Drone, and prepared to sign a contract.

• Ye Yuan told Old Yu to unload the catch and rest the crew while he stayed ashore to handle other business.
• Ye Yuan visited a large agricultural equipment market near Pinghai County after his brother-in-law connected him with Zhang Kai.
• Zhang Kai showed Ye Yuan prepared options for seeders, harvesters, tillers, and irrigation systems.
• Ye Yuan studied a Plant Protection Drone that Zhang Kai had added to the proposals and learned about its farming-monitoring features and subsidized price.
• Ye Yuan was satisfied with the equipment proposals and decided to sign the contract.

Ye Yuan bought agricultural equipment and drones, then visited the garbage treatment plant to collect accumulated garbage blocks. He met the staff and left Xue Wenliang wondering whether the boss was the same Ye Yuan he knew through his nephew.

• Ye Yuan signed a contract for farming equipment, bought a high-horsepower tractor, and spent 800,000.
• Ye Yuan bought two Plant Protection Drones for Li Hui to help monitor the fish farm.
• Ye Yuan arrived at the garbage treatment plant, where Jia Yi and the staff were waiting to greet him as the boss.
• Ye Yuan sent the staff back to work and pulled Jia Yi toward the final workshop to discuss something privately.
• Xue Wenliang noticed that Ye Yuan looked remarkably like his nephew's classmate, also named Ye Yuan.

Ye Yuan collected the processed garbage blocks and secretly stored newly delivered agricultural machinery in his space before taking two drones back to Fishing Bay Island for Li Hui. After returning, he learned Niuniu was playing with the Beast King and cautioned his mother against feeding Ai Niu human food.

• Ye Yuan collected every garbage block in the warehouse but postponed exchanging them for points until after storing the agricultural machinery.
• Jia Yi showed Ye Yuan the machinery in a secluded warehouse, and Ye Yuan stored it all in his space except for two drones.
• Ye Yuan took the drones by speedboat to Fishing Bay Island and left them with Li Hui, who was surprised by the gift.
• Ye Yuan returned to the villa for lunch and learned Niuniu was playing with the Beast King.
• Ye Yuan warned his mother that feeding Ai Niu human food could harm the dog, but his mother objected to being corrected.

Ye Yuan exchanged garbage for points, but the system still did not upgrade, though his attributes brought him closer to brain development. Back at sea on the repaired Yushui Hao, he set out to give his crew the thrill of discovering and salvaging a shipwreck.

• Ye Yuan watched Ai Niu bond with his mother and decided not to limit the dog’s happiness despite the risks of eating too much salt.
• Ye Yuan exchanged his garbage blocks for points, reaching 1.87 million accumulated points, but the system failed to upgrade.
• Ye Yuan checked his status and was pleased that his endurance had reached 51, though his speed still needed two points to reach 50.
• Ye Yuan sailed southeast of Fishing Bay Island aboard the repaired Yushui Hao, now equipped with sunshades and juicers.
• Ye Yuan gave Ma Hua some blueberry cocktail and used his senses to search the sea for a shipwreck to salvage with the crew.
• Ye Yuan sensed reefs and several spiny meat worms on the seabed ahead of the boat.

Ye Yuan discovered a rich patch of unusually large wild Kecan sea cucumbers and found several giant specimens while scouting the seabed. He returned to the boat and organized the crew to harvest them in shifts, with safety ropes secured because of the underwater currents.

• Ye Yuan spotted numerous oversized Kecan sea cucumbers among the coral reefs and stopped the fishing boat by claiming the area was suitable for diving.
• Ye Yuan dove down, found the sea cucumber patch, and discovered a sixty-centimeter specimen that nearly escaped before he put it into his space.
• Ye Yuan searched further and collected two more giant sea cucumbers, measuring fifty-five and fifty centimeters, along with several smaller ones.
• Ye Yuan returned to the boat and told the crew that a large batch of Kecan sea cucumbers lay below.
• Yu Hongbo split the ten available crew members into two teams, while Ye Yuan explained sea cucumber harvesting and secured safety ropes to the divers.

Ye Yuan and his crew harvested a large haul of Kecan Sea Cucumbers, then he explained why processing them into dried sea cucumbers took more than simply drying them. The crew listened as he described the initial cleaning and gutting steps.

• Ye Yuan photographed the crew as they dived and harvested sea cucumbers beyond the areas their ropes allowed them to reach.
• The first group returned with nearly full bags, and Ma Hua and Wang Husheng traded jokes before the next crew members entered the water.
• Ye Yuan stopped the harvesting at sunset after the crew worked all day and filled a live-water tank with large sea cucumbers.
• Ma Hua asked why they were keeping the sea cucumbers alive instead of drying them for storage and a better price.
• Ye Yuan began teaching the crew how sea cucumbers were processed, explaining how to wash them and remove their internal organs.

Ye Yuan explained how to process sea cucumbers and reassured the crew that the motionless ones were estivating, then weighed whether to return to port or keep fishing. He called Ye Hui to ask about seafood sales channels in Kouhai City and Sha San City, and she guessed he had filled the cargo hold.

• Ye Yuan described the steps for making dried sea cucumbers and explained why he kept the live ones in the tank.
• Ma Hua mistook the motionless sea cucumbers for dead ones, but Ye Yuan said they were estivating.
• Ye Yuan considered whether to head back to port or keep fishing, worried that the sea cucumbers might die if they stayed at sea.
• Ye Yuan studied the sea chart and called Ye Hui to ask about sales channels in Kouhai City and Sha San City.
• Ye Hui asked whether Ye Yuan had filled the cargo hold.

Ye Yuan asked Ye Hui to help find a buyer for his large catch of top-grade wild sea cucumbers, and she arranged a sale with Sister Wei in Kouhai City. The siblings agreed to sell Sister Wei five hundred jin at 2,750 yuan per jin, while she would process Ye Hui’s reserved share into dried sea cucumbers.

• Ye Yuan told Ye Hui he needed to sell his sea cucumbers nearby, and she asked him to send photos and suggested two buyers in Kouhai City.
• Ye Yuan photographed the sea cucumbers and told Ye Hui he had about eight hundred jin.
• Ye Hui urged Ye Yuan not to sell the exceptional catch cheaply and said she would negotiate with Sister Wei.
• Ye Yuan instructed Ding Yi to reroute the fishing boat toward Kouhai City.
• Ye Hui told Ye Yuan that Sister Wei would buy five hundred jin for 2,750 yuan per jin and process their reserved sea cucumbers into dried seafood.

Ye Yuan arranged with Sister Wei to sell her at least six hundred jin of premium sea cucumbers, while keeping three exceptionally large ones for use as gifts. After arriving at Kouhai City fishing port, he woke the crew and had them sort the catch by size before meeting her.

• Ye Yuan asked Ye Hui about Sister Wei and learned that her family had a reputable, generations-long dried seafood business, though Ye Hui warned she might try to acquire his rare sea cucumbers.
• Ye Hui negotiated with Sister Wei, who agreed to meet Ye Yuan on the condition that he sell her at least six hundred jin of premium sea cucumbers.
• Ye Yuan added Sister Wei, whose WeChat name was Flower Accompanies Rain, and arranged to meet her at the Kouhai City fishing port pier at eight the next morning.
• Ye Yuan cultivated in his cabin, then prepared to pack the largest sea cucumbers separately before meeting Sister Wei.
• At dawn, Ye Yuan told Yu Hongbo that they had docked in Kouhai City to sell the sea cucumbers and ordered him to wake the crew and sort them by size.
• Yu Hongbo woke the crew, who hurried to the live-water tanks to sort the sea cucumbers.

Ye Yuan sold 980 jin of sea cucumbers to Wei Yan for 1.68 million yuan, while keeping his largest specimens aside for a separate deal. He went with Wei Yan to a hotel in Kouhai City, where she prepared to inspect the premium sea cucumbers.

• Wei Yan boarded Ye Yuan's fishing boat and offered prices for the sorted sea cucumbers, which Ye Yuan agreed to.
• Ye Yuan and the crew weighed and loaded 980 jin of sea cucumbers, and Wei Yan transferred 1.68 million yuan to him.
• Wei Yan told Ye Yuan they would discuss his super specimens separately and invited him to breakfast.
• Ye Yuan left the boat with a foam cooler and rode with Wei Yan to a hotel in Kouhai City.
• Ye Yuan ate breakfast while Wei Yan asked to see the premium sea cucumbers Xiaohui had mentioned.

Ye Yuan refused to sell Wei Yan his sea cucumbers but signed a processing contract with her. He hinted that he might soon have Big Yellow croakers and Chinese bahaba to supply, leaving Wei Yan to suspect he had a way to breed the protected fish.

• Wei Yan inspected Ye Yuan's three Kecan Sea Cucumbers and asked to buy them, but Ye Yuan firmly refused because he had other plans for them.
• Ye Yuan checked and signed Wei Yan's processing contract, then tried to leave, but she stopped him to discuss future business.
• Wei Yan explained that her eldest daughter had recently married and said she would visit Hedong often, creating more chances for them to cooperate.
• Wei Yan reminded Ye Yuan that she also wanted fish maw and shark fins, while Ye Yuan decided not to reveal the shark fins he had found.
• Ye Yuan told Wei Yan that he had Big Yellow croakers and might have Chinese bahaba in the future, prompting her to suspect he had acquired breeding technology.

Ye Yuan secured a possible seafood partnership with Wei Yan, then sailed with the Yushui Hao into the Xisha Islands. Yu Hongbo explained the restrictions on visiting the islands and revealed that the crew had once been stationed there.

• Wei Yan invited Ye Yuan to let her inspect his fish farm near Guangshou City, and Ye Yuan welcomed the possibility of working with her.
• Ye Yuan returned to the Yushui Hao, where the crew had gone ashore in Haikou and returned with coconuts.
• The Yushui Hao departed Haikou, and the crew cheered when Ye Yuan announced a 200,000-yuan bonus for the sea cucumbers.
• As the boat entered the Xisha Islands, Yu Hongbo explained the restrictions on visiting and told Ye Yuan that the crew had all been stationed there as navy men.
• Ye Yuan asked Yu Hongbo about local seafood, but Yu Hongbo said he knew little about it and praised the islands' environment.

Ye Yuan sailed past the Xisha Islands, admired their clear waters and abundant ornamental fish, and decided to bring his family there someday. When Yu Hongbo asked about recruiting former comrades, Ye Yuan explained he had no plans to expand the fishing operation but hoped his crew would eventually become captains themselves.

• Ma Hua described Yinyu Island and Quanfu Island to Ye Yuan as the fishing boat passed through Xisha without landing.
• Ye Yuan admired Xisha's vivid seascape and underwater fish, and resolved to bring his family there when he had time.
• Ma Hua explained that the crew regretted leaving because comrades were stationed on the islands, and Ye Yuan wished he had brought them supplies.
• Yu Hongbo asked whether Ye Yuan planned to expand the fishing operation so his former comrades could join.
• Ye Yuan explained the costs and complications of expanding, then told the crew he hoped they would each become captains someday.
• Ma Hua muttered that bosses everywhere loved making empty promises.

Ye Yuan offered Yu Hongbo’s comrades temporary work at the tourist area while reserving future fishing-fleet jobs for those who proved themselves. Meanwhile, Professor Liu suspected that a dangerous new cell infecting panda cubs was the same one that had afflicted Xu Hang, and he contacted Old Xu to ask about Xu Hang’s recovery.

• Ye Yuan told Yu Hongbo that his comrades could work in the tourist area and might get priority when the fishing fleet expanded.
• At the Xishu Giant Panda base, Zhang Yuxin told Professor Su Weiguo and other experts that an unknown, fast-spreading cell had killed one panda cub and infected the remaining cubs.
• The experts failed to find a solution, and Professor Liu recalled that a human patient named Xu Hang had suffered from a similar cell and later recovered.
• Professor Liu called Old Xu, cautiously asked about Xu Hang, and explained the panda outbreak and his suspicion that the cases were connected.

After a deadly virus sickened the panda cubs, Xu Hang arrived at the panda base with a possible treatment plan, but its rare ingredients were beyond Zhang Yuxin’s reach. Xu Hang proposed an alternative that Zhang Yuxin refused, leaving the cubs’ fate dependent on whether Ye Yuan would help.

• Professor Liu learned that Xu Hang’s illness had been cured with traditional Chinese medicine, and soldiers took the panda base’s files for investigation.
• Old Xu’s team identified the illness as a deadly foreign viral cell that could infect humans, and Xu Hang arrived secretly at the panda base.
• Xu Hang told Zhang Yuxin that the experts could not treat the virus and that the required medicinal ingredients would cost tens of millions and be nearly impossible to obtain.
• Xu Hang offered to make treatment easier in exchange for a panda cub, but Zhang Yuxin refused.
• Xu Hang privately counted on Ye Yuan to help the pandas, but hoped not to use up his own favor with Ye Yuan.

Xu Hang arranged a possible twenty-year lease of a panda for Ye Yuan if he cured six sick pandas at the Xishu base. Ye Yuan agreed and insisted that the contract be signed first, then prepared to meet Xu Hang.

• Zhang Yuxin proposed leasing a panda to Ye Yuan for twenty years, provided Ye Yuan cured the pandas and his zoo passed inspection.
• Xu Hang called Ye Yuan and offered him a panda lease if he treated six pandas with conditions like Xu Hang's illness.
• Ye Yuan eagerly agreed but demanded that they sign a contract before he treated the pandas.
• Xu Hang urged Ye Yuan to come to Xishu soon because the panda cubs could not wait.

Ye Yuan rushed to Xishu, where he treated six panda cubs and secured a lease for two of them. After returning to Fishing Bay Island, he watered the bamboo in their newly built Panda Garden with Spatial Lake Water, and Niuniu arrived with the Beast King.

• Ye Yuan left the Yushui Hao at Sha San City and hurried to the airport to catch a flight to Xishu.
• At the panda base, Ye Yuan treated all six cubs and arranged for a Panda Garden to be built on Fishing Bay Island.
• Zhang Yuxin approved leasing Ye Yuan two pandas instead of one after seeing the island's rapid construction and hearing Ye Yuan promise future help.
• Ye Yuan returned to Fishing Bay Island overnight and watered every bamboo stalk in the Panda Garden with Spatial Lake Water.
• Niuniu came bouncing into the bamboo grove with the Beast King as dawn broke.